Kevin Durant says Lonzo Ball, other top talents are smart to skip the NBA Draft combine
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Lonzo Ballis skipping the NBA Draft combine underway in Chicago this week and Kevin Durant thinks it's the right play for the potential No. 1 pick out of UCLA.
The Golden State Warriors starstill remembers his own experience at the combine, where heinfamously was unable to do a single 185-pound bench press.
As embarrassing as that was, Durant just doesn't see the point. He sounded off about it in an interview with ESPN at a Warriors practice on Wednesday.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I remember it like it was yesterday," Durant said, as he readjusted his body to get comfortable in his seat. "All the strength coaches were laughing at me and s -- . They were giggling with each other that I couldn't lift 185 pounds, and I was like, 'All right, keep laughing. Keep laughing.' It was a funny thing, because I was the only one that couldn't lift it and I was struggling to lift it. I was embarrassed at that point, but I'm like, 'Give me a basketball, please. Give me a ball.' "
Well, he went second overall that year to the then-Seattle Supersonics and got his chance to show what he could do when they gave him a ball.
Durant averaged 20.3 ppg in his debut season, taking home Rookie of the Year honors. All he's done since then is make eight Al-Star teams and win the 2014 MVP award.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Meanwhile, the guy who went before him -- Greg Oden to the Portland Trail Blazers -- blew Durant out of the water at the combine that year. The big man skipped the bench press because of a wrist injury (andsurely would have put up at least one rep), but put up better numbers than Durant at several other drills.
Oden played 105career games, last making a brief comeback bid with the Miami Heat in 2014.
More from Durant recalling his experience:
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I knew nobody in that draft could guard me one-on-one," he said with the utmost confidence. "I knew that for sure. I knew that. And I knew that you don't need to [bench-press] to lift a basketball up. And I knew that this wasn't football, where that stuff matters. I knew as a basketball player I had a lot of skill, more skill than anybody in the draft. And I knew that if I worked as hard as I could, then that s -- wouldn't matter at the end of the day. It still doesn't matter. I was ranked the last person in camp, drills-wise. I was the worst player, and the first player didn't get drafted. That tells you a lot about the significance of that s -- ."
And on being passed over for Oden:
"I figured they knew who they were going to draft already," he said. "But that says a lot, as well. I was the No. 2 pick and I couldn't lift 185 pounds. That shows you that basketball isn't really that type of sport."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Yeah,we're thinking Durant might have a point here.
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